Project 10073 Record Card and Related Correspondence: Sighting of March 7, 1960

This document collection contains reports and correspondence regarding a series of sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena that occurred on the evening of March 7, 1960, across the Eastern United States. Witnesses, including civilian pilots and military personnel, reported seeing a formation of bright, fast-moving objects with long tails, described variously as silver, cherry-red, or light orange. The sightings were reported from locations ranging from Maine to Florida and as far west as Ohio. The Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) and other military commands, including the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), coordinated to investigate these reports. The official conclusion reached by the Air Force was that the sightings were caused by the re-entry and subsequent breakup of the Discoverer VIII satellite. The documents include a Project 10073 record card, internal Air Force memos, and transcripts of teletype messages from various military units, including Heavy Attack Squadron THREE and the Air Force Missile Test Center at Patrick Air Force Base. The reports consistently describe the objects as moving in a southerly direction and, in several instances, breaking apart. The military investigation determined that the timing and trajectory of the sightings coincided with the 1595th revolution of the Discoverer VIII satellite. Despite initial speculation by some observers that the lights might be a meteor shower or a missile, the official determination remained that the phenomena were the result of the satellite's re-entry into the atmosphere.